With ‘Stoker’ on the way, 10 great English-language debuts by foreign directors

To call any foreign auteur attempting his first English-language feature a “fish out of water” doesn’t give him (or her) a great deal of credit: a fish out of water is a pretty dead fish, after all, and it’s hardly a novel observation that many artists are positively inspired by unfamiliar climes. But film history littered with enough unsuccessful crossover attempts to make us nervous whenever an esteemed world-cinema name decides to shed the subtitles (well, for us, at least).

Recently, Wong Kar-wai came badly (albeit prettily) unstuck when hitting the American highway in “My Blueberry Nights.” Three years after accepting an Oscar for “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck received only critical catcalls for his calamitous “The Tourist.” And while it was no train wreck, the indifferent response to “Things We Lost in the Fire” was enough to send Susanne Bier scuttling back to Denmark, whereupon she found she could make a middlebrow, Oscar-winning morality tale from the comfort of her own homeland.

So hopes, fears and, above all, curiosity were all running high when wild South Korean genre stylist Park Chan-wook unveiled his first American production, “Stoker,” at the Sundance Film Festival last month. As the closing credits rolled on this nasty, beautiful, Gothic-modernist fairytale, however, I could breathe a sigh of relief: Park had breezed through passport control with considerable panache, and without sacrificing one iota of his trademark creepy-kinky weirdness. You can read my full thoughts on “Stoker” in my Variety review, but don’t mind adding that it’s my favorite new American film of 2013 so far. (There are those, and will be many more, who wildly disagree, but this is not a film looking to unite opinion with its narrative and stylistic extremities.)

As well as extending Nicole Kidman’s fascinating record of collaborations with international auteurs (joining Lars von Trier in the “yes” column, stepping over the hunched figure of Oliver Hirschbiegel), Park joins a long list of successfully globe-trotting directors that is very nearly as old as cinema itself. From Jean Renoir to Rainer Werner Fassbinder, from Ernst Lubitsch to Louis Malle, from John Woo to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu, film has been richer for the expanded perspective of directors who have either relocated permanently from one filmmaking culture (and language) to another — as a flood of invaluable European immigrants, including Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Michael Curtiz, did in Hollywood’s golden age — or professionally vacationed in a variety of spots.

Only two days ago, the Academy handed a second a Best Director Oscar to one of its greatest international sons: Ang Lee, who began his career with two Taiwanese features nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and has since worked with equal ease in British, independent American and Hollywood environs, twice returning to his home continent in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Lust, Caution.”

Lee’s Oscar triumph, combined with the release of “Stoker” this week, is a gratifying reminder that great filmmakers aren’t — or shouldn’t be — restricted by geographic or cultural borders.

With that in mind, this week’s list focuses on 10 directors, previously known exclusively for foreign fare, who aced their first English-language assignment. It’s a broad brief, and the list is by no means comprehensive, so I’ve arranged it chronologically rather than in preferential order. Think of it chiefly as a conversation starter: which directors are you gladdest made the transition to English-language fare, and which got it right first time? Click through the gallery below for my picks, and be sure to add yours in the comments.

Around The Web

Join The Discussion: Log In With

Pretty indisputable list.
Sunrise, Repulsion, Fahrenheit 451, Blowup and Dark Water are not just strong debuts, but among the best of each director’s work for me.
Out of curiosity, would you have included Certified Copy if the list included all directors working outside their native language for the first time?

By: Amir

02.27.2013 @ 6:38 PM

And by debut, of course I meant English-language debut.

By: DylanS

02.27.2013 @ 7:31 PM

especially love the inclusion of the often overlooked “Fahrenheit 451”

By: GuyLodge

02.28.2013 @ 1:40 AM

Aaargh, I csn’t believe I forgot Certified Copy — which I think is sufficiently English-language to count. Or maybe not. Either way, glad I didn’t posit this list as a ranked Top 10.

By: DylanS

02.27.2013 @ 7:30 PM

Good list, and I’m going to also toss out a very recent addition into consideration. Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”.

By: Bill

02.27.2013 @ 7:34 PM

Can I just point out that in the slide show “A LIttle Princess” is listed as 1935 not 1995 (it’s release date)

By: KristopherTapley

02.27.2013 @ 8:00 PM

Corrected, thanks.

By: Liz

02.27.2013 @ 7:57 PM

I LOVE “A Little Princess.” It seems to be not as well remembered as Agnieszka Holland’s version of “The Secret Garden,” which came out a year or two earlier, but I think they’re both wonderful.

By: Mykill

02.27.2013 @ 8:24 PM

oh yeah I loved The Secret Garden as well (I had to watch a lot of these types of films b/c I had an older sister LOL) but they were all soo good. I haven’t thought about either of those films in years but I now want to go back and re-watch them both.

By: GuyLodge

02.28.2013 @ 1:42 AM

Yep, huge fan of Holland’s ‘The Secret Garden’ — one of my favourite books, so the film was especially rewarding. Considered it for this list, but Cuaron’s film is that much more inventive.

By: Mykill

02.27.2013 @ 8:22 PM

I love that you included A Little Princess on this list – that film holds up so well (although I think Cuaron’s best English-language film is Children of Men.)

I definitely like the concept of this list – I will have to go back and look at some of my favorite English-language films that were directed by foreign directors to find out if they were (English-language) debut films or not, but that is a cool idea to think about. And reading your review of Stoker definitely has me excited about seeing that film even more than I already did.

By: Gautam

02.27.2013 @ 9:07 PM

Guy, Did you consider 21 Grams, or you completely missed it ?

Also, Naomi Watts has been as much popular among foreign filmmakers as Kidman if not more having worked with the likes of Alejandro González Iñárritu, Oliver Hirschbiegel,Juan Antonio Bayona, Anne Fontaine, Rodrigo García and above all the only Hollywood Actress to have worked with Michael Hanake.

By: GuyLodge

02.28.2013 @ 1:44 AM

I like elements of 21 Grams — everything involving Benicio Del Toro and Melissa Leo, in particular — but I still think it was a step down from Amores Perros, so I didn’t consider it for this list.

By: Gautam Anand

02.28.2013 @ 1:57 AM

Yeah, it’s a tough call between 21 grams and Amores Perros, though I give the former a little edge over later since it’s a more finished product. Though one might argue, that the ruggedness of Amores Perros is what makes it so compelling.

By: The Dude

02.28.2013 @ 12:52 AM

There’s Sunrise, and there’s everything else.

I’d also include Abbas Kiarostami’s (sort of) English debut in Certified Copy and Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the list as well.

By: JLPatt

02.28.2013 @ 4:54 AM

I like Fritz Lang a whole lot, but “Fury” is not one of his better hours. It hasn’t aged well at all.

By: GlennAU

03.02.2013 @ 3:29 AM

Love the inclusion of “Dark Water”. I was surprised how much I liked it, definitely.